[$teve]

This may not be relevent to everyone but I can assure you 100% everyone knows someone....a relative, friend or aquaintance who has this disease and doesnt know it!!

COULD YOU BE AT RISK FROM HEPATITIS C?

It is silent, hidden and without symptoms for years. Found by accident it is one of the most widespread diseases on the planet! Five hundred million people on Earth carry it (compared to 33 million with AIDS) it is the Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and people NEED to be made aware of it.
Related to the Yellow Fever Virus & the West Nile Virus, HCV kills over 10`000 Americans annually and is the leading reason for liver transplants. We really need to publicize the 'MESS' we are storing up for future generations.

HCV is a devious little virus. (I know` I have it.) I was diagnosed completely (and luckily) by accident after a `Wellman` check-up.
I had and still have no symptoms at all which is the best time to treat it. Because of the incubation period of the virus which is on average 20 – 25 years (up to 50 years) most infected people do not know they have the disease. Long-term infection has caused a leap in the incidence of liver cancer and liver damage and is the leading cause of people needing liver transplants. HCV poses a public health crisis far greater than the AIDS epidemic.

You cannot be vaccinated against it. It is spread by infected blood from transplants before 1992, sharing needles or Coke snorting tubes. Needle-stick injuries, (It can be active for months in dried blood on toothbrushes or razors) tattoos or piercings or by possibly having medical treatment abroad and you could unknowingly and easily pass it to your kids or partners!!

Cirrhosis is the most advanced injury associated with Hepatitis C and almost always precedes the onset of liver failure and liver cancer. Because HCV is a relatively benign and slow-acting virus in its initial effects on the body (it rarely causes acute disease symptoms or discomfort at the time of infection) it takes a long time to notice. Deaths from HCV are rising at an alarming rate!

That's why it's called the silent epidemic

ASK YOUR GP FOR A HCV TEST NOW! IT COSTS NOTHING BUT YOUR TIME!

"A Guide to Understanding Hep C":
http://www.hcvadvocate.org/hepatitis...tion_2006.html

Please spread the word!!

[Frank4d]

My wife had it. Like you posted, found completely by accident after a routine blood test (a doctor noticed some number that didn't look right). After the weekly Pegasys injections and twice daily Copegus tablets for 6-7 months, her tests came back negative. Tested two years later, still negative.

[$teve]

Thats really good to hear Frank,it certainly can be beaten but most people dont realise they have it, it can just sit there in your blood for years without any symptoms.
In my circle of friends from around the early 70` there are Four of us with HCV so far and im expecting that to rise.

So....who is or could possibly be at risk?
http://www.health.state.ny.us/diseas...whosatrisk.htm

http://www.pegasys.com/hepatitis-c-d...s-c-risks.aspx

You can also check if your at risk of other liver diseases.

[ACA529]

Very interesting Steve. Thanks for the post.

[$teve]

Your very welcome,ill stick this for a while.
Anyone with questions dont be afraid to ask or PM me.

[SIR****TMG]

Thanks Steve

[grandma77]

I have a son in law that has it and a very good friend that has it. Son in law had his therapy about 4 years back and is doing very good...he got his from some not so good things he did as a teenager....my friend got his from a blood transfusion in the 80's. He is on his second round of therapy...this time for a year. Thought he had it licked but it came back.

Son in law didn't know he had it but an old friend looked him up and told him he had it and suggested he get tested. Thank God that friend cared enough to tell him. He was embarrassed for any of us to know about it but I told him we didn't care...yes he played some serious games experimenting with drugs as a teenager but his lifestyle is completely changed now and that is all that matters. Like I said, thank God his friend told him to get checked...the best thing that friend could have ever done.

[ikiscompisbroken]

um...sorry to say your fact on the uk isnt entirely true....every student in the uk knows about HCV as every student in the country gets a planner that is required to have information including hcv awreness day and also it usually (very rarely not) has a page saying about diseases including hcv

[ashes@work]

Wow. good thing you found it now and not later! Good luck with yoru treatments

[$teve]

Originally Posted by ikiscompisbroken

um...sorry to say your fact on the uk isnt entirely true....every student in the uk knows about HCV as every student in the country gets a planner that is required to have information including hcv awreness day and also it usually (very rarely not) has a page saying about diseases including hcv

Well seeing as it has an incubation period of up to 50 years its not just confined to you students and I do not believe that every student will read that "Planner"
Try asking 100 over 40`s if they have ever seen information on HCV and you will know why that fact is in there.Thanks for looking and thanks for the very relevent point you made.

This is a quote from th Hep C Trust website:

Raising awareness
We are outraged about the lack of awareness of hepatitis C that exists both within the medical profession and the general population.


There are between 250,000 and 500,000 people infected with hepatitis C today in England alone, of which only 55,000 have been positively diagnosed. This means that only 10% of people who are infected are aware that they are living with the disease. This figure is 50% in France and 90% in Australia.

We are asking the English, Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish governments to start large scale, multi-media mass public awareness campaigns so that people understand the virus, and will get tested if they think that they are at risk from infection. This summer 43 MPs wrote to the English Chief Medical Officer to support this request. Watch this space for the result…

The Hepatitis C Trust has launched a brand new awareness and prevention campaign called What Not To Share to encourage people to get tested and stay safe.

Every person infected with hepatitis C deserves prompt, high quality care and support from their local health care services, in accordance with the Hepatitis C Action Plan and NICE guidance. NICE guidance states that all patients with hepatitis C are entitled to treatment.


Unfortunately in today’s NHS this isn't always the case and patients are too often faced with health professionals who are unaware of even the basics of hepatitis C. This results in long delays in diagnosis, serious complications and early deaths.

If patients are referred to a specialist too many end up on long waiting lists for treatment, sometimes of a year or even longer. The may be because clinics are over-subscribed or because PCTs have failed to properly plan their hepatitis C budgets.

There is a professional consensus that early diagnosis and treatment of hepatitis C saves lives and improves quality of life. It is also much cheaper to treat in its early stages and prevents further infections.

Investment is needed urgently to identify and treat infected people to save the National Health Service money in the long run, and to save lives now.




http://www.hepctrust.org.uk/the-hepa.../Get+involved/

[katt2]

its amazing the cost to treat hep c. I have Non active liver cancer and another name for it is non alcoholic steato hep. when i was in having my liver biopsy one of the doctors was conversing to me about patients that he treats for hep c. that on average the cost for the meds for treating it was from 2000 to 4000 a month. I nearly fainted but i was already laying down . Scarey stuff. my best to all who have it and no matter what postive thinking and good friends and hugges go along way. katt

[$teve]

Thanks Katt....very much appreciated comments!

The cost of 48 weeks treatment in the UK is around £30`000 (Thirty Grand) including drugs, specialist fee`s, monthly visits etc.....scary thought is thats the probable reason for our governments "head in the sand" technique to dealing with it.

[valley]

Good info Steve. I hope you can keep this nasty disease at bay for many years to come!

[Tomo8281]

The U.K is the worse country in the civilized world for making the public aware, the cost of testing and treating the possible 1.2 million infected people would be astrononical so they keep their head buried deep in the sand until it goes away.

Oh really? Atleast we HAVE healthcare. You're country isn't at a great state at the moment to be saying bad (and invalid) arguements about other country's healthcare, ha. We have open clinics where you can walk in and get tested, you can get freely vacinated and cured for any virus/infection like this. We have a massive awareness scheme, apesially aged at young/teenage kids.

To be honest, have you acuttaly lived in the UK? Ever? Or are you just another loud mouth idiot.

I acuttally can't believe i logged on today and saw this, who the hell put this on front page either? Also about the 40+ being aware of this, if i went to your country and asked around. To be honest i bet 60%+ don't even know what a virus/disease is.

http://www.hepctrust.org.uk/
http://www.hepc.nhs.uk/

[JohnWill]

Tomo8281, if you had bothered to look in the upper right of his message, he lives in the UK! Or, perhaps you don't recognize that 25 miles from Manchester/England is in the UK? I suspect your question if he's ever lived in the UK would be answered if you actually looked.

Given that, you just delivered another insult to the homeland, you happy now?